Keep your comments polite, on topic and succinct. Play nice and everyone benefits!.
We will be taking a break from our regular training schedule this Sunday.
The Kendo folk are likely to be all kendoed out after the “Have a Go” Day on Saturday and Dylan will not be able to run an Arnis class on Sunday morning.
We will be back to a regular weekend programing next Sunday.
The first kenjutsu workshop for the year will be on 4 March starting at 9:30 am at the MEAC.
This workshop is open to all BBRD members who are involved in the use of the sword (iaido, kendo & jodo), and it may prove insightful to BBRD members who practice arts that utilise stave weapons (e.g. jujutsu) in that the methods of gripping and striking with these weapons are quite similar.
This is the first of four workshops to be held throughout the year with each individual workshop concentrating on one of the three sword arts practised in BBRD (ZNKR seitei iaido, ZNKR kendo and SMR kasumi shinto-ryu kenjutsu) and with one workshop being a combined arts workshop.
Look forward to seeing everyone there
It looks like another very hot week ahead of us, so I would like to urge everyone to look after themselves in the heat.
Japanese martial arts have a tradition of training through adverse conditions, especially extreme heat and cold. While this can be good for the development of mental resilience/toughness, it is extremely important to be sensible with this and ensure that you are both sufficiently hydrated and vigilant for the signs of severe heat stress.
Could everyone please bring drinking containers to training this week — no exceptions. This is so that you can have said containers close to the keikojo and you can quickly pause to grab a few sips. I will also endeavour to provide sufficient breaks during training where everyone should rehydrate — again no exceptions.
Could you also remember to bring a pair of easily removable footwear to that if you are ducking outside to use the bubblers or (and especially) nipping into the toilets that you are not walking dirt/germs onto the keikojo. In general, the red border outline in the MEAC determines the place we wish to keep clean, so please ensure you use your footwear as you cross that line.
Have a good week of training!
This Tuesday in order to better prepare everyone for our event on the 24th, we will be having a double session of training, starting at 6 pm.
Jujutsu will still be on as usual, ably taken by Brady. However, our regular kendoka are invited to come when they are able to get some extra practice in, and work on some of the feedback we received as a group from the last Kenshinkai visit.
Additionally, I am unavailable for training on Sunday, but Minty will hold the fort and run folk through their paces at the usual time.
We are now less than two weeks away from hosting our first every “Have a Go” day, and preparations are in full swing to try and make it both a wonderful opportunity for current (and “lapsed”) Kendoka in the district to train with visitors from other Queensland clubs, and for folk curious about Kendo to come along and get hands on experience.
As I’ve mentioned previously, it will be the first time since December 2012 that we have had a delegation of QKR members come for a specific event here in Toowoomba, and I personally am relishing the opportunity to share one of my martial arts passions with a new audience.
The consignment of new shinai arrived on Friday last week. I will be making a head start on preparing these for use through the week, but we will be having a general shinai maintenance workshop this Saturday afternoon to thoroughly check the existing stock of Club shinai and ensure that they are all fit for use. I will provide details at training this week regarding the timing etc. for the workshop.
On the promotions front, I am about to launch a Facebook “event” to help direct traffic to the day, and am currently working on media releases to launch on Friday and then again early next week. We will also be attempting to access as many community notice boards as we can to entice the public, and I have treated some DL flyers that ought arrive by mid week so that we can start to distribute them. Please let me know if you are willing/able to walk some of these around your workplace/school/community so that I can arrange to get some to you. And please share the event as widely as your network allows so as many people as possible know about the day.
Next Wednesday we will be doing a Kendo-focussed demonstration during lunch time in the USQ Quad, and again some extra assistance from the wider Club community would be gratefully accepted so that we can engage as many of the University community as we can.
The day itself will again benefit if the broader Club community can come to support it. We will need assistance with “bump in” and “bump out”, runners to get lunch, and stewards to help direct people on the day— both the visiting kendoka and the public. Please let me know ASAP if you are able to help on Saturday 24 so that we can develop a roster.
So please spread the message, share the Facebook event, forward details to interested colleagues and friends, and come and Have a Go yourself (whether you are a “lapsed” kendoka or have never tried the art before)!
Key Details:
Date: Saturday 24 February 2018
Location: Salo Centre, St Ursula‘s College, Taylor Street
This is a free event. We will have loan equipment available for use. Simply turn up, sign up and jump in.
Sessions:
10.00 am • Kendo Keiko for current and previous kendo practitioners
This session is to take advantage of the opportunity to train with high level Kendo practitioners, and for the general community to be able to see what good quality kendo looks like. It will also encompass an opening ceremony and some general remarks/directions for the day.
11.45 am • “Have a Go” session
This is open for all members of the general public to get their first hands-on experience of Kendo. We will be catering for children from age 7 upwards and adults who would like to give it a go. The session will run for approximately 1 1/2 hours and will have a high ratio of participants to kendoka helping to guide your first steps in the art.
2.00 pm • Regional kyu grading opportunity
There will be a grading opportunity held for those that have put in the requisite paperwork as of last week. From Toowoomba, Sian C and Sean T are attempting grades, and there may have been some from other kendo clubs in Queensland who may have applied. It would be lovely to see folk stay and support all candidates by watching this event. It will be the first regional-level kyu grade held in Queensland, and is hoped to be a template for more grading opportunities to be run in the State.
3.00 pm • Afternoon Tea in the Toowoomba Japanese Garden
Weather, time and interest permitting, we will be hosting our visitors for afternoon tea and showcase the Toowoomba Japanese Garden. We will gather underneath the wisteria near the Regent Street entrance to the Garden.
We are close to locking in the details for the kendo “Have a Go” day, set for Saturday 24 February. Some of the final pieces to place are the formal request from the QKR president to senior members to form a grading panel, and finalisation of the focus for the first session of the day, where the public can come and watch before they try the art.
We have booked the Salo Centre at St Ursula’s College, Taylor Street, for the event. Our booking is from 9 am till 3 pm, which will provide us with adequate time to set up and pack up. The proposed schedule for the day is:
9.00 am — Get to venue and set up for the day and welcome visitors as they arrive
10.00 am — Official start to the day including opening ceremony and welcome to visitors
10.10 am — Commence keiko as directed by senior sensei.
11.40 am — End keiko and welcome new community participants.
11.45 am — Start the “Have a Go” event
1.15 pm — Closing remarks and start of lunch
2.00 pm — Commence grading
2.30 pm — Finish grading and pack up
3.00 pm — Afternoon tea in the Toowoomba Japanese garden (weather permitting)
Over the next fortnight we shall start to advertise via social media, flyers, and by accessing community media/local news media to get the event out there. I will be speaking with folk individually this week regarding what we can all do to make this a successful event.
For those challenging for shinsa you will have to ensure all of your paperwork is lodged no later than Friday, which will mean that you will need me to sign off on it at Tuesday night’s training.
I am quite excited about the proposed day and hopeful that it will be a springboard to spark a renaissance for kendo in the district. If everyone who has indicated they will come show up, we ought to have numerous newbie and sufficient experienced kendoka to help them take their first steps in the art!
I just want to express thanks again to John Isaacs sensei and the regular members of Kenshinkai, Brisbane, for the warm welcome and training opportunity this weekend. It was an excellent opportunity for Sian, Sean and Holly to get quality input before their shinsa challenge at the end of the month, and for Minty, Kateena and I to get some high-level input into our own technique, as well as the opportunity to train with a broader community.
It was also great to catch up with some of the Brisbane based kendoka, including Okamoto sensei, Dave F. and Anna, who we have missed the last few times we have come down, and it was also lovely to see Robert Kimber, who came down to watch (and I think has started to get that “itch” to come back to training). All we need to do now is encourage Maaike to pick up the shinai, and we will be one step closer to getting the Uni Games “band” back together!
I will look forward to seeing everyone again on the 24th for the Toowoomba “Give it a go” Day, and our continued training through the year.
As some of you know, I have some significant changes on my horizon over the next few years. I have formally accepted an offer to study Physiotherapy at the Bundaberg campus of CQ University, and will be commencing the degree starting the week of March 5.
What this will mean for me is that I will have to travel to Bundaberg to meet the face-to-face requirements for the degree. I will be doing so weekly while term is on and most likely be there for three days per week for at least this year and next before being able to finish the remainder of the degree “remotely” while having a practicum placement (with the plan to do that here in Toowoomba).
The most immediate effect for the Club will be that I will have to hand over some of the regular teaching responsibilities to Brady in Jujutsu, Minty in Kendo and for Tracy and Sian to hold the fort for Iaido.
At this stage, it looks like I will be in Toowoomba Saturday through Tuesday, though depending on what time classes start on Wednesday morning, I may have to leave Tuesday afternoon. We will be shifting FlexiFit to a Monday evening from 5 March, and I may offer an chuden/joden intensive session for Jujutsu for an hour before Kendo on the weekend. However, I will not have certainty around this for at least another week, so do stay tuned!
On the up side, there are some opportunities already emerging for the BBRD ethos to spread its wings and involve new folk in Bundaberg and the surrounding district in what we do. I have already been planning with Tamara and Ivan from Gin Gin to begin a kendo class on a Wednesday night, and will see what interest I might be able to generate for teaching Kendo and Jujutsu in Bundaberg on a Thursday night. In addition, we might start to trial the “Virtual Dojo” idea for iaido and set up a videoconference style session to link the BBRD diaspora in at least one or two sessions a month on a Thursday night.
I am confident that this will be a great opportunity to both grow BBRD as an organisation. I’m looking forward to the new challenges, and to seeing how everyone continues to progress throughout the year ahead.
I would like to express on behalf of the Club our gratitude to the Queensland Go Society for generously donating new boards and stones to play with. They will certainly increase the enjoyment of playing a game after some time setting game up games on the grid sheets, and we hope to feature them at upcoming Club promotional activities.
Many thanks to Horatio Davis and Alan Hunt for organising this for us, and making the trip up to Toowoomba to deliver the equipment and play a few games!
Just a quick reminder that we are heading to Brisbane as a Club this Saturday (3 February) to train at the Kenshinkai. The plan is to head down in two cars, and go to Yum Cha afterward. We shall confirm details at training on Tuesday night.
As a consequence, we will not be training Kendo on Sunday morning.
Keep your comments polite, on topic and succinct. Play nice and everyone benefits!.